Creativity soothes our souls…

Can’t believe it’s been almost a year since my last post!  Life certainly has taken over this past year…with my sisters’ health issues and coping with many other “trials” sent our way.

While working through all our “trials”, we focused on music, art and creativity…there was a lot of singing, dancing, piano playing, sewing, needlepoint, watercolour painting…girlie and I were invited by our piano/voice instructor to perform in her production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas earlier this year.  Music really soothes our souls…while I was given the part of playing Belinda for one of 2 performances (and being a part of the chorus), girlie was given a small vocal part as the Spirit and assigned to choreograph her own little dance for both performances!

This past week, I had an extra day off and started painting Chloe – girlie’s stuffy.  Handmade by me when she was 3…Chloe was hiding in her X’mas stocking…I still remember the look on her face when she found Chloe…now that Chloe is tattered and looking extremely loved, it’s good to capture her on a wee Aquabord.

Considering how crazy things were and packed our schedules were…we managed to really eek out some growth this past year!  This hopefully means that we are ready for a more challenging year ahead of us!

“Are you fluent in Emoji?”

I recall the days of drawing happy/sad faces in hand-written letters/cards.  Yes, I am apparently a dino – our kind are almost extinct.

When we first purchased our iPhones, I was not aware of the capability of texting with the Emoji “keyboard”.  Once it’s on my phone?  Huh!  I’ve been using it like a mad woman.  Some days though, I’ll refrain myself from overusing Emoji.  When I came across this fun quiz in NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/25/style/emoji-quiz.html

I thought I would surely be a whiz!  😦 Sadly, looks like I’m not as “fluent” as I think I am…thank goodness, really…I am after all a dying breed that loves to write…

Out of commission…is this a lesson?

Recently, both of my sisters were diagnosed with TMD (Temporomandibular joint dysfunction).  This is the link to the Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporomandibular_joint_dysfunction

It’s put them both “out of commission” so to speak…even with a specialist’s help, it might take a while for them to fully recover.  “Recover”, not sure what that really means at this point.  Yes, I’m VERY concerned.  Being the only “healthy” sis at the moment, I’ve taken on the care taker role – frankly, I’m grateful that I can help.  Cooking, cleaning, driving…whatever needs to be done…glad to be of service!

Our folks are aging…while we were all together for a brief period of time in the same house, I had to take some sick days off to care for the clan.  To my unpleasant surprise, someone at work did a bit of creative backstabbing…long story short, I am reminded that my family comes first.  I put my heart in my work place – do all that I am responsible for and often volunteer to do much more than expected.  After a pow wow with my hubby last last night, we both agreed that we are happy to be occasionally reminded that we can serve the ones we love…yes, this is a lesson!  We must first take care of ourselves, so we can step up and care for the ones we love when it’s needed.

The world can try to crush us, but our soul is of genuine goodness…only goodness can come…

 

 

When can I let this go…

We periodically go through our “stuff” – sorting them into 3 piles – donate, not sure & keep. We’ve trained our now 10 year old to do the same…yes, much to my chagrin, we all feel pretty attached to most items that have ANY emotional connection to just about ANYTHING!

This created many discussions concerning my sculpture projects from my college days…yes…my husband insisted that those “boxes” can be reused…did he think that it was an easy decision for me? WHY did he think that I wanted to be rid of them…well…ok, they represented another life…I was not a happy camper…they reeked of darkness to me…”good riddance” I told him…but really? Did I really mean it? Not really…but I knew that it had to be done.

Out with the old, in with the new…but THIS? Sigh…this little table is a miracle child from the scrap pile in our sculpture department. We (my sis and I) were poor “art students” living in a studio…we badly needed a table for meals…more than a quarter of a century later, I have made a decision to keep this piece of furniture. Probably, never letting this piece go…

“What Composer is Your Soulmate?”

We love KDFC. I wish I have the financial resources to donate a lot of money to them…but alas…if we only get what we wish for…hahahaaaa…I’d be knitting all day long! There will be no more joint pains! Yay!

I digress…

Apparently, according to the quiz created by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra posted on the KDFC blog by Dianne Nicolini…J.S. Bach is my soulmate! I’m sure he is not impressed…hahahaaaaaa…

Teacher/staff appreciation week

I’m blessed to be working at a school where our parents and kids show appreciation for what we do…

Every year, I say to myself that I need to snap a photo of every sweet student who offers me a flower/card/chocolate…it’s their faces that show me their love & appreciation. Imagine that I have a wall filled with years of that love! Next year, I say…I will have my camera ready!

Home made gifts

How I LOVE making and giving homemade gifts to my friends…family…my girlie’s teachers to show my love…

April is the month of one of my friend’s birthday…I wanted to make her something that she can take to the Farmers’ Market or just carry it in her purse as an extra bag! This bag marks the first time ever that I am using fabric labels. Not my own quite yet, but I sense that commitment moment of sewing them onto each handmade item drawing near…

Macarons and Mariage Freres tea

This was one of those lovely sunny afternoons…

Our girlie was in ballet class and we had an hour to share = a quick stroll to the nice neighbourhood macaron place! Not only did we find the cutest chicks waiting for consumption…they carry Mariage Freres tea!

Life is short…enjoy every minute with a loved one.

Gudrun Johnston’s Flukra

Girlie and I were super lucky to meet Gudrun for our first (hopefully not the last) time last year. She brought along some of her really amazing lace work/shawls and I vowed to knit the Flukra soon.

Here I am. After months of neglecting my blog (it’s o easy to just post via Instagram!)…I picked up some Madelinetosh lace from Imagiknit. The first part was really simple and fast. Unfortunately, it’s taken me many tries to get to row 19 of Chart A. After taking apart what seemed to be a million times, this is where I finally feel comfortable taking a picture!

Just in case anyone is wondering where I bought Gudrun’s patterns:

http://www.theshetlandtrader.com/blog/?page_id=1232

Happy knitting!

Fair Isle knitting and friendship…

My sweet friend, E and I…we met through knitting. I was a newbie at work. She, a veteran Montessori Kindergarten teacher (not age-wise, mind you). I walked past her one lunch hour, knitting next door…I gasped! We made friends…that, was 6 years ago.

We’ve knitted through many lunch hours…gone through many projects, finished or frogged. Through many changes and happy events. Now, we are both addicted to Fair Isle projects. Great hearts and minds think alike, I’d say.

Here’s to many more years to come, E. I am truly grateful for your friendship.